Hose washing machine



Nov. M, 1939. K. G. SEDGWICK HOSE WASHING MACHINE Filed June 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 gENNETH G.SEDGW|CK 2 ATT0RNEY5 Nov. 14, 1939. K, SEDGWlCK 2,179,831

HOSE WASHING MACHINE Filed June 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ICK Y gm j/VVENTOR gem N ETH s. ssoew Nmr. 14, 1939. K, s w 2.179.831

HOSE WASHING MACHINE Filed June 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 KENNETH G. SEDGWICK ATTORNEY5 Patented Nov. 14, 1939 STATES ATENT iE HOSE WASHING MACHINE of America Application June 14, 1938, Serial No. 213,591

4 Claims.

(oi. l88) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act of April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for 5 the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

I hereby dedicate the invention herein described to the free use of the people of the United States of America to take effect on the granting of a patent to me.

This invention relates to a machine for washing hose, especially hose of the collapsible flat linen type, such as that used for fire extinguishing purposes.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide such a machine that will automatically wash all sides of the hose at one time as it is fed through it, wetting the hose as it approaches the washing operation, and rinsing it after it leaves the washing operation.

The following description considered together with the accompanying drawings will disclose this invention more fully, its construction and operation of parts, and further objects and advantages thereof will be apparent.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevational View; and

Figure 2 is a plan view of this invention.

Figure 3 is fragmentary side elevational View of the horizontal reciprocating brushes in washing position.

Figure l is an end view of Figure 1 from the line d-d.

35 Figure 5 is an enlarged end sectional view along the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a schematic. diagram of the linkage employed to reciprocate the brushes.

Referring with more particularity to the drawings in which like numerals designate like parts, a lower guide bar 8 bracketed to a suitable frame 1 and a lower brush carrier 9 is slidably mounted on said bar by means of sleeve brackets H3 and H. One, two or more brushes l2 are removably secured on said brush carrier 9 with their bristles extending upward. Metal anti-friction plates l3, 53 on said brush carrier and similar plates M, M on said bar 8 contacting said plates l3, I3 may be provided to reduce sliding friction. Also anti-friction plates Ma, Ma may be provided to reduce friction between the brackets If! and H, and the bar 3. The upper brush bar is hingedly mounted on the frame at l6 and upper brush carrier H is slidably mounted thereon (similar to the manner in which the lower brush carrier 9 is mounted on the lower brush bar 3) by means of sliding brackets l8, l8 beneath said member I5. The upper brushes i9, H) are secured beneath said brush carrier 57, bristles down. Plates 2!], secured to the bar l5, plates 2!, 21 secured to the 5 upper brush carrier I1 and plates 22, 22 secured to the member 95 between the sleeve brackets l8 and 29 are provided to reduce friction. As shown by the drawings, the bristles of the brushes face each other.

Said brushes are oppositely reciprocated by means of a lever 23 fulcrumed to a bracket 24 se cured to the frame of the machine. One end of each of the links 25 and 26 are pivotally connected at points 2'! and 28 to the lever 23 sub- 15 stantially equidistant from the said fulcrum. The other end of link 25 is pivotally connected to the bracket 29 of the upper brush carrier I! and the other end of the link 26 is pivotally connected to a bracket H of the lower brush carrier 20 9. A connecting rod 3! is disposed between the lower end of the lever 23 at 32 and a crank arm 33. Said crank arm is attached to the crank shaft it which is rotatably mounted in bearings conveniently disposed in the lower part of the frame of the machine. Said crank shaft is actuated by a motor 35 fixed to the base of the machine. Power is delivered from a grooved pulley take-off of this motor to a grooved pulley 36 fixed to the crank shaft 3 5 by means of a friction 30 V-belt 31, substantially as shown. A trough 38 is mounted on the frame of the machine forward of the brushes and another trough 39 is similarly mounted rearward of said brushes through both of which the hose to be washed slides.

In Figure 1 the upper brush assembly, consisting of the bar l5 and parts appurtenant thereto, is shown in dotted lines in its open position, revolved about its hinged point Hi. When the machine is in operation this upper brush assembly must be held firmly against the top of the hose I being washed and for this purpose a hook 411 with a handle extension 41! is swiveled to a bracket 42 mounted on the rearward end of the upper brush bar l5. Said hook ii! is adapted to 45 catch under a guide bracket 43 fixed to the frame of the machine. The handle il when the machine is operated may be held in position by any suitable means such as a catch 44.

A water pipe line i5 is disposed across the top of the outer sides of the troughs 38 and 39, bridging the space therebetween, and thence around the opposite side of said troughs, substantially as shown. The water intake connection and valve assembly 46 is preferably positioned near or in the U-bend in the pipe. The pipe is positioned as closely as possible to the brushes and is provided with apertures at optimum points to permit sprays of water to play on the brushes and upon the hose as it passes through said troughs.

In order to provide for the cleansing of the sides of the hose which may escape the action of the horizontal brushes above mentioned, vertical brushes ll and 63 are utilized, the vertical brush t! being disposed on the bracket 49 fixed to the lower brush carrier 9 and the vertical brush 48 is mounted on a bracket 36 fixed to the upper brush carrier vll. The said vertical brushes 41 and 48 are mounted in such a way that they exert a pressure contact upon the sides of the hose as it passes through the machine. If desired a shield 50 may be bracketed to the frame of the machine to shield the motor from any water and dirt that may be thrown out of the machine.

The operation of this invention is as follows: The motor 35 is started and water is delivered through the pipe line 45 by opening the valve 46. The motor supplies power by means of the V-belt 37 to the pulley 35 which in turn rotates the crank shaft 34 and thus the crank arm 33 revolves carrying with it the link 3! connected to the end of the lever 23. This causes lever 23 to oscillate about its fulcrum, carrying with it the links 25 and 26 and in turn the brushes l9 and i2, respectively, are thus oppositely reciprocated. The upper brush assembly is then elevated in substantially the position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1, the brushes being in motion meanwhile. The fact that this may be done with the machine running permits continuous operation, avoiding the necessity of stopping the machine while hose is being placed in or removed from it. The hose 5! to be washed is disposed lengthwise from the trough 38 over the brushes I2 and the trough 39. It is immaterial in which direction the hose is fed. This feeding is accomplished by operators stationed at the ends of the machine near the said troughs. The upper brush assembly is then lowered and fixed in position by means of the hook Ml which is held in position by catch M, as above mentioned. The hose is then drawn through the machine by hand by one of the operators. The water flowing through the pipe line 45 escapes through the holes provided thus spraying water upon the brushes and upon those parts of the hose passing through the troughs 38 and 39. The brushes being firmly pressed against the surface of the hose and being in motion as described above, scrub the dirt from the hose as it is drawn between them.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A hose washing machine comprising upper and lower sets of brushes slidably mounted on horizontal bars, one of said bars being rigidly secured to the frame of the machine and the other bar being hingedly mounted on the frame of the machine directly above the rigidly secured bar, each of said sets of brushes consisting of horizontally and vertically disposed brushes, and means for oppositely reciprocating said sets of brushes.

2. A hose washing machine comprising upper and lower sets of brushes slidably mounted on horizontal bars, one of said bars being rigidly secured to the frame of the machine and the other bar being hingedly mounted on the frame of the machine directly above the rigidly secured bar, and means for oppositely reciprocating said brushes on said bars.

3. A hose washing machine comprising upper and lower sets of brushes slidably mounted on horizontal bars, one of said bars being rigidly secured to the frame of the machine and the other bar being hingedly mounted on the frame of the machine directly above the rigidly secured bar, and a motor and a kinematic linkage systern for oppositely reciprocating said brushes.

A hose washing machine defined by claim 3 in which the kinematic linkage system comprises a lever vertically fulcrumed to the frame of the machine, a link connected between a point above the fulcrum of said lever and a bracket fixed to the upper brush set, another link connected between a bracket fixed to the lower brush set and a point on said lever below the fulcrum, a crank arm secured to a rotatably mounted shaft adapted to be actuated by the motor, and a connecting rod disposed between said crank arm and said lever at the point below the fulcrum.

KENNETH G. SEDGWICK. 

